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Samantha Hayes reporting Driving under the influence of rage; Highway patrol troopers say anger led to a crash on Interstate 15.
Ted Tingey, Utah Department of Public Safety: "We're not going to tolerate this kind of behavior because it usually results in somebody getting hurt or eventually killed."
The driver of the car pushed off the interstate was merely in the way when the angry driver tried to speed past another vehicle. That driver was ticketed for reckless driving.
Tonight we talked with the man he forced off the road. The man told KSL over the phone he's just thankful he did not die, in the crash caused by another driver's impatience.
Inside every one of the cars on the road is a loved one; someone who is important to someone else. But in traffic, it's just someone else in the way.
Ted Tingey, Utah Department of Public Safety: "It takes two to fight and that's usually what happens."
Fighting to get ahead is what Utah Highway Patrol troopers say a driver was doing when he sped around another car and ended up hitting a different vehicle on Interstate 15 Southbound near 2300 North. The impact resulted in a powerful crash, that left an innocent driver and his passenger in the mud.
Ted Tingey, Utah Department of Public Safety: "People need to control their attitude, control their temper out there and be aware of what they're doing, and like I said, calm down"
Highway patrol statistics show a 12 percent increase in road rage traffic incidents last year.
Recently in Bluffdale, a teenager was in the hospital after trying to avoid two other vehicles racing along the interstate.
Road rage was to blame for a fight that started between two men, and ended with one of them murdered. Sergio Ramos Trujillo was sentenced today.
In Sandy, a man suffered a beating after a fight with another driver on the road. Officers say it's difficult to enforce - unless there is a crash. So they want drivers to report aggressive behavior when they witness it on the roads.
Ted Tingey, Utah Department of Public Safety: "If it's something that's deemed dangerous or life threatening to you or others around you by all means dial 911, let us as officers deal with it."
The driver of the car that was hit this morning told me he's okay, but his passenger was hurt.
